• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Shane Black: RDJ wants Mel Gibson to direct Iron Man 4

Status
Not open for further replies.
Like I've been asking all thread long - what's in it for Marvel to spend money and their goodwill on that result? What do they get out of it that they can't get any other, much safer potentially more lucrative way?

How is this way forward at all appealing when looking at it from any other vantage point but "Give Mel a chance?"

Marvel is in a position where they can do whatever they want and succeed, and it will also be something new that will get people´s attention.

And as I said, once the decision is made, Everyone will align to that, from the production team to the extras and from the CMO to the viral marketeers.

The marketing/hype machine will start and everything will be great.

Do you disagree that Marvel marketing and their partners would do a great job getting people hyped about a Mel Gibson directed marvel movie ?
 
Marvel is in a position where they can do whatever they want and succeed.

I'm not disagreeing, but that doesn't answer the question, which is why would they want to do it? What's in it for them to do it? If they can do anything they want, why would they want to be nice to Mel Gibson?

Why would they go all in on a film production whose only real reason for existing is to rehabilitate Mel Gibson?

What's the point? How does that help Marvel? How does that provide Marvel with an opportunity they can't seize in any other, much more easy, much more rewarding manner both financially and in terms of public relations?

The people who want an Iron Man 4 appear to be Robert Downey Jr and Mel Gibson. And the reason they want Iron Man 4 is because it would be cool for Mel Gibson.

Why is that something Marvel would really give a fuck about?

They're good businessmen, but they're not fucking sorcerers.
 
Mel would make an impactful villain as people hate him already. There's some emotions going on and if the character is a total dickhead, the movie could be really strong. Think about that.
 
It's a poor decision to have him direct it anyways. It would just bring about a lot of unneeded controversy around this family franchise

Dude should just keep his mouth shut and slowly work his way back up again. If that war movie is decent he'll get another project ,
 
I'm not disagreeing, but that doesn't answer the question, which is why would they want to do it? What's in it for them to do it? If they can do anything they want, why would they want to be nice to Mel Gibson?

Why would they go all in on a film production whose only real reason for existing is to rehabilitate Mel Gibson?

What's the point? How does that help Marvel? How does that provide Marvel with an opportunity they can't seize in any other, much more easy, much more rewarding manner both financially and in terms of public relations?

The people who want an Iron Man 4 appear to be Robert Downey Jr and Mel Gibson. And the reason they want Iron Man 4 is because it would be cool for Mel Gibson.

Why is that something Marvel would really give a fuck about?

They're good businessmen, but they're not fucking sorcerers.

Mel Gibson could make a movie that feels fresh and new from other Marvel movies, he being the director alone would get tons of coverage. Its a gamble yes, but I think Marvel could see it as an oportunity.
 
Mel Gibson could make a movie that feels fresh and new from other Marvel movies

So could roughly 30 other directors currently working.

Why would Marvel want any part of their legacy to be "resurrected Mel Gibson's career."

"Well, it took em over a decade to finally get a Black Panther movie off the ground, and even longer to make a Black Widow or a Captain Marvel movie... but they gave Mel Gibson his career back!"

What's in it for them to do that to themselves.
 

numble

Member
I'm not disagreeing, but that doesn't answer the question, which is why would they want to do it? What's in it for them to do it? If they can do anything they want, why would they want to be nice to Mel Gibson?

Why would they go all in on a film production whose only real reason for existing is to rehabilitate Mel Gibson?

What's the point? How does that help Marvel? How does that provide Marvel with an opportunity they can't seize in any other, much more easy, much more rewarding manner both financially and in terms of public relations?

The people who want an Iron Man 4 appear to be Robert Downey Jr and Mel Gibson. And the reason they want Iron Man 4 is because it would be cool for Mel Gibson.

Why is that something Marvel would really give a fuck about?

They're good businessmen, but they're not fucking sorcerers.
RDJ Marvel movie = Minimum gross of a billion.
 
I'm wondering if RDJ promises to feature in yet another billion-grossing MCU movie if Mel Gibson directs and makes a very public apology concerning his past.
 
RDJ Marvel movie = Minimum gross of a billion.

You don't need to make Iron Man 4 to hit that now.

So we're back to RDJ and Mel Gibson are currently the only people with any real investment in making Iron Man 4, and the only reason they wanna make Iron Man 4 is as a gift to Mel Gibson's career.

Why should Marvel be in the "Gift Mel Gibson a career" business? Especially considering how much time, money, and goodwill they'll have to spend just to get audiences in the frame of mind to where they want to maybe give it a shot?

This scenario only makes sense if the only angle you're looking at it from is "How do we help Mel?"

Which ignores the more important question: "Why in the fuck would we ever help Mel?"
 

Jigorath

Banned
This is what Shane Black said in another interview.

BI: You said in an interview that Robert Downey Jr. wants Mel Gibson to direct an "Iron Man" movie, if there were ever another one. Were you serious about that?

Black: I just heard him say that once, but that was years ago. As far as I know, it's nothing serious. I was just repeating what I heard.
 
So shit, not even Downey's really all that serious about it.

(Which was evidenced by the fact when he had the pull to do whatever he wanted, he spent that capital on getting Shane Black in the chair, not Mel Gibson)
 
Honestly, I think an incredible movie of its own standing (as in, wouldn't just be great in context of the MCU but great on it's own) could be done with an adapted Iron Man: Demon in a Bottle, especially with both Mel and RDJ involved and creatively channeling from their own personal experiences in much the same way as Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler or Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven.

I'm also of the personal opinion that people are too easy to shit on Mel for his problems of addiction, but to be fair I have a father who struggled with severe alcoholism for a major part of his life and have seen firsthand how he transformed into something other than just the tired stereotype of a, "person without inhibitions."
 
You don't need to make Iron Man 4 to hit that now.

Well, sure, but RDJ is really about the only guarantee for a solo movie hitting a billion. Every billion-grossing MCU movie has had RDJ, but also an enormous cast with other pricey leads. With a solo RDJ movie, it's the easiest ticket to a billion while also reducing costs by having RDJ as the only major casting expense.

So Disney might be looking this as, "We can sell this as Mel Gibson's rehabilitation, given he plays along, and as the main plus, we get another uber-profitable solo RDJ film that grosses a billion."

Toxic while Gibson's image is at the moment, it's the only real way Disney is ever getting a billion-grossing solo film with a small cast in a long time, barring maybe Spider-Man. And given the goodwill the MCU has right now, it might just be possible Disney could consider it a worthwhile risk.
 

black_13

Banned
That would be a great choice. It sucks people are still hating on Mel despite RDJ, Shane and a few other guys said he's just misunderstood. Why not even give him a second chance? Lotta people are assholes behind the set in Hollywood but most of them get away with it.
 

fr0st

Banned
RDJ doesn't want to do another Iron Man movie but will come back for all The Avengers movies? That makes no sense.
Hes contracted for the avengers movies but not for other movies(for CA:CW he had to negotiate with marvel just for that one movie).
 

Laughing Banana

Weeping Pickle
You're reading it in this thread.

We're the general public, man.

People don't like his ass.

Huh. If we're using this thread as a measure of general public than I am pretty sure a good majority of people in here actually would like to see him gets the chance directing a big budget movie.

Unless you are one of those people who considers your opinion somehow carries more weight than others, I guess.
 

DeathyBoy

Banned
Huh. If we're using this thread as a measure of general public than I am pretty sure a good majority of people in here actually would like to see him gets the chance directing a big budget movie.

Unless you are one of those people who considers your opinion somehow carries more weight than others, I guess.

And by the way, no. We're not the general public.

We're not even the core audience for shows like The Flash/Arrow, as evidenced by the producers of said shows not giving a damn to the creepy 'I hate Felicity' nonsense. The only reason Marvel cares about the online audience is because sporadically their whining about stuff like The Ancient One leads to entertainment sites picking up the stories and forcing Marvel to comment on them.
 
Mel Gibson is so much better than doing a Marvel movie.

They wouldn't be passing up a guaranteed billion. Their guaranteed billions are coming in regardless who directs an Iron Man 4, or whether an Iron Man 4 even exists.

It's a business: Do you want to spend the time, the money, the goodwill, and the intensely focused marketing campaign necessary to nullify the nonstop negative attention Disney's rehabilitation of Mel Gibson will recieve? For a "guaranteed billion" that you can get elsewhere, through other means that don't come attached to that fucking headache?

Say Black Panther lands the way people want it to. Say the reception to it is massive both at home and overseas. Coogler manages to make a better film than both Creed and Fruitvale combined.

You want Marvel to take that goodwill, those funds, and then immediately turn around and tell the world they're going to be hiring the guy who told his wife he hopes she gets raped by a pack of niggers?

Just because Robert Downey Jr. is feeling sentimental?

Except for the fact that RDJ would not want to be in the movie, thus Marvel cannot make a billion. And you would be delusional if you think that many people would watch IM without RDJ. He is by far the most popular of the superhero genre.
 
This is not happening in a million years.

Sure, Gibson is a much better director than anyone Marvel has ever worked with but they have nothing to gain from hiring him except for controversy. They have taken some risks in the past (hiring RDJ in the first place) but they are owned by Disney now. They're in the business of making blockbusters for the whole family that have mass-market appeal, the last thing they want is to piss off any sizeable group of people.

I would love to see it though, I don't particularly care for any of the Iron Man films (first one included) and Gibson could make something amazing provided Marvel would give him the freedom, which would be as unlikely as them hiring him.

Sure, maybe RDJ is pushing for him, but at this point Marvel would probably prefer Iron Man 4 doesn't happen than it being directed by Gibson, they have other franchises and they can always write a check to RDJ for him to appear in somebody else's movie.

Edit : Also, Downey is a savvy businessman. Does he want to help his friend and is pushing for him ? Sure. But considering his relationship with Marvel, I think he's also realistic about the whole thing, he probably knows that this is never happening but he's doing it anyway out of loyalty. If Marvel pays him enough, he'll do Iron Man 4 with somebody else.
 
The Man Without a Face
Braveheart
The Passion of the Christ
Apocalypto

That's his filmography.

Braveheart is overlong and pretty poorly paced
The Man Without a Face is overly sentimental and hammy (also poorly paced)
The Passion of the Christ is straight up religious torture porn.
Apocalypto is a fucking amazing action movie.

I think maybe Mel Gibson's filmography isn't near as impressive as we tend to automatically give it credit for being.

That's aside from the fact he's apparently a giant piece of shit as a human being.

Braveheart is one of the best movie ever made. He is a top tier director.
 

Lebron

Member
Mel Gibson is so much better than doing a Marvel movie.



Except for the fact that RDJ would not want to be in the movie, thus Marvel cannot make a billion. And you would be delusional if you think that many people would watch IM without RDJ. He is by far the most popular of the superhero genre.
lol the IM role is literally the only thing he has going for him. He's not Scarlett Johansson. He would do the movie if they hired Master P to direct.
 

Slayven

Member
lol the IM role is literally the only thing he has going for him. He's not Scarlett Johansson. He would do the movie if they hired Master P to direct.

Master P:"Now when Blizzard freezes your ARC reator, I want you to say 'Ugghhhh'

RDJ:"Ugghhh?"

Master P:" Na, nah, na, nah"
 

Figboy79

Aftershock LA
And by the way, no. We're not the general public.

We're not even the core audience for shows like The Flash/Arrow, as evidenced by the producers of said shows not giving a damn to the creepy 'I hate Felicity' nonsense. The only reason Marvel cares about the online audience is because sporadically their whining about stuff like The Ancient One leads to entertainment sites picking up the stories and forcing Marvel to comment on them.

Wait, wait, wait. People hate Felicity? Why? She's the best fucking character on the show (excusing the atrocious season 4 character assassination, she seems to be getting her fire back now, though). Felicity makes bearing some of the bs Arrow shits out occasionally much easier. I honestly had no idea people hated her. Then again, I shy away from most tv threads on GAF, because most of them are insufferable and full of people more interested in hating things. There are exceptions, but the tone is almost overwhelmingly cynical (don't look at the Game of Thrones Book/TV Spoiler thread. I'm surprised some of those guys haven't committed seppukku in a frothy mouthed rage of hatred for the show and the show runners. But then I guess they couldn't come back the following week and do it all again, but I digress).

The thing is, these geek movies aren't really for us, and it makes us angry when we get a glimpse of realization. It wasn't $1 billion dollars worth of comic geeks that have made Civil War a success. We like to take credit, but the truth is that powerful marketing and talented filmmakers have made characters like Iron Man and Captain America household names. We certainly carry the torch of fandom with us, but our contribution to box office success isn't as large as we've imagined it to be. The most us fans can claim is vindication that the characters we've loved since childhood are indeed as awesome as we've been saying they are.

If Marvel felt hiring Mel Gibson to direct a fourth Iron Man movie was somehow worth it, they'd do it. But the truth is, audiences are in love with Robert Downey Jr. You could put a manatee wearing a hat in the directors chair, and people would still flock to theaters. Fortunately, Marvel and Disney seem to have an eye for bringing on talented directors that don't break the bank, or carry with them a lot of baggage from their personal lives, but can still direct a fun, crowd-pleasing superhero movie.

RDJ was a risk for Iron Man, since he was known as the drug addicted, insanely talented cautionary tale of Hollywood. That risk paid off because RDJ is indeed talented, and as Ryan Gosling put it, "a one man charisma machine." Audiences loved RDJ because he was in front of the camera, redeeming himself. Reminding us why he's the shit.

Audiences generally have no idea who's behind the camera directing a film. If anything "Mel's Redemption," would fall flat outside of film and fan circles. I doubt Marvel/Disney would spend the marketing budget to remind us that it's a Mel Gibson Film. RDJ will be all the marketing you get for that movie, and would overshadow Mel anyway, so why spend the money to bring Mel on board? I'd imagine they'd just rehire Shane Black, who did a great job with Iron Man 3 (I really liked that movie, personally. It was a Shane Black movie with superheroes).

I think Mel could direct the fuck out of a superhero movie, but so can a bunch of other talented directors who don't carry around so much drama.
 
Huh. If we're using this thread as a measure of general public than I am pretty sure a good majority of people in here actually would like to see him gets the chance directing a big budget movie.

Why wouldn't we use this thread as a measure of the general public? It's not like posting to a forum makes us somehow above people who don't. There's no real barrier that we're breaking in order to get here and share our opinions. Conversations happening here aren't all that out of the ordinary.

It's not like I said there isn't anyone who would be willing to give it a shot. Just that there's a lot of people who don't like Mel Gibson, and wouldn't like him getting that shot, and would probably be somewhat annoyed with Marvel for just gifting it to him.

Remember, my response was to a question that seemed disbelieving that the general public was displeased with Mel Gibson still. Obviously, they are. We are. People right here are.

(I wouldn't say this thread is a comfy majority in either direction, either, but the fact there's as much noise as there is should be enough to explain why Marvel wouldn't be too antsy to jump in on the Gibson Rehab Project aka Iron Man 4 - which apparently isn't even a thing outside an overheard convo that happened once, years ago.)

edit: Figboy's post is another good take on why Marvel wouldn't need to even consider this too much, without even getting into Mel Gibson's weird psychoses.
 

YaGaMi

Member
Not been a huge fan of the Iron Man movies but would watch if Mel Gibson directed it. I'd prefer the Viking movie though.
 
(I wouldn't say this thread is a comfy majority in either direction, either, but the fact there's as much noise as there is should be enough to explain why Marvel wouldn't be too antsy to jump in on the Gibson Rehab Project aka Iron Man 4 - which apparently isn't even a thing outside an overheard convo that happened once, years ago.)

edit: Figboy's post is another good take on why Marvel wouldn't need to even consider this too much, without even getting into Mel Gibson's weird psychoses.

I hear Master P's name being passed around for IM4 now. Any word on that?
 

numble

Member
You don't need to make Iron Man 4 to hit that now.

So we're back to RDJ and Mel Gibson are currently the only people with any real investment in making Iron Man 4, and the only reason they wanna make Iron Man 4 is as a gift to Mel Gibson's career.

Why should Marvel be in the "Gift Mel Gibson a career" business? Especially considering how much time, money, and goodwill they'll have to spend just to get audiences in the frame of mind to where they want to maybe give it a shot?

This scenario only makes sense if the only angle you're looking at it from is "How do we help Mel?"

Which ignores the more important question: "Why in the fuck would we ever help Mel?"

Disney is still a business with a fiduciary role to make money for shareholders. The stock price dropped due to ESPN losing subscriptions. They will produce in the UK to take advantage of measly $20 million tax incentives. It is their duty to pursue a sure billion if the opportunity presents itself.
 

Blader

Member
RDJ doesn't want to do another Iron Man movie but will come back for all The Avengers movies? That makes no sense.

Avengers makes more money than Iron Man and, being an ensemble movie, it's relatively less work. What doesn't make sense?
 
Disney is still a business with a fiduciary role to make money for shareholders. The stock price dropped due to ESPN losing subscriptions. They will produce in the UK to take advantage of measly $20 million tax incentives. It is their duty to pursue a sure billion if the opportunity presents itself.

You really trying to argue that Disney's shareholders are going to push the notion the company has a financial duty to hire Mel Gibson? As if that's the only way forward to a "sure billion?"

In the same year that Zootopia, Jungle Book, Civil War, Finding Dory, and Rogue One are gonna cross it?

"You have an obligation to our shareholders to hire Mel Gibson, Feige."

Nah.

And again, this entire thread is basically the years late response to an offhand comment Shane Black overheard once.
 

numble

Member
You really trying to argue that Disney's shareholders are going to push the notion the company has a financial duty to hire Mel Gibson? As if that's the only way forward to a "sure billion?"

In the same year that Zootopia, Jungle Book, Civil War, Finding Dory, and Rogue One are gonna cross it?

"You have an obligation to our shareholders to hire Mel Gibson, Feige."

Nah.

And again, this entire thread is basically the years late response to an offhand comment Shane Black overheard once.

They have an obligation to pursue financially successful films, yes. Do you dispute that?

If it comes down to a strict condition, they would need to weigh the relative business merits.

There is no situation where when presented with a strict but cheap condition, that a company declines a billion dollar opportunity just because they have other billion dollar projects going on.

This is the same company that sticks in a Chinese Vivo smartphone for Tony Stark to use in Civil War, puts Chinese yogurt ads and TCL ads in Iron Man 3, and films in specific locations for small tax incentives. Their new Disneyland is majority-owned by a autocratic government that forced people off the land to make way for the park.

When cheap but profitable opportunities present themselves, the company takes them.
 
They have an obligation to pursue financially successful films, yes. Do you dispute that?

They're already pursuing financially successful films. Very successfully, too. Stockholders aren't going to hear about Feige declining to hire Mel Gibson and go "WAIT, WHO LET THIS LOOSE CANNON OFF THE LEASH YOU BETTER BRING THAT DOG TO HEEL AND GET THAT LETHAL WEAPON IN THE DIRECTOR'S CHAIR TOOT SWEET"

The scenario in question is likely not at all anywhere close to reality, much like the possibility that Downey is going to force anyone into any situation where it would even have to come to that.
 

numble

Member
They're already pursuing financial films. Very successfully, too. Stockholders aren't going to hear about Feige declining to hire Mel Gibson and go "WAIT, WHO LET THIS LOOSE CANNON OFF THE LEASH YOU BETTER BRING THAT DOG TO HEEL AND GET THAT LETHAL WEAPON IN THE DIRECTOR'S CHAIR TOOT SWEET"

The scenario in question is likely not at all anywhere close to reality, much like the possibility that Downey is going to force anyone into any situation where it would even have to come to that.

If your argument is that they will stop pursuing billion dollar films because they have other billion dollar projects, that isn't really convincing. Like, they would not do a Captain America 4 if the opportunity presented itself because they have other billion dollar projects in the pipeline?

If the argument is that Downey can be convinced to make an Iron Man 4 without Mel Gibson (because of, once again, the financial cost of turning down the opportunity), that is a different argument.

You seem to try to present both arguments at once. I do not think it is convincing that Disney will decline a billion dollar film because they have other billion dollar films in the pipeline.
 
Too much risk for basically zero reward for Disney.

They would probably take Shane Black back in a heartbeat though. IM3 was basically best case scenario for everybody involved
 

Blader

Member
Downey is trying to be a good friend to a guy who had his back when he was down, but he's also a realist and savvy businessman. He worked long and hard to become the megastar he is now, ate a lot of shit for it along the way, and isn't going to throw a wrench in all that by telling -- nay, demanding -- that Marvel/Disney allow Mel Gibson to direct an Iron Man 4 or he'll walk. Downey doesn't want that, Gibson probably doesn't want that, Disney sure as hell doesn't want that.

Nothing about this scenario is rooted in reality. And the fact is, if Hacksaw Ridge is a big hit, then maybe some doors will start opening for Gibson again. And if it isn't, then they definitely won't, least of all Marvel's door. So it's a moot point however you want to look at it.
 

shintoki

sparkle this bitch
If your argument is that they will stop pursuing billion dollar films because they have other billion dollar projects, that isn't really convincing. Like, they would not do a Captain America 4 if the opportunity presented itself because they have other billion dollar projects in the pipeline?

If the argument is that Downey can be convinced to make an Iron Man 4 without Mel Gibson (because of, once again, the financial cost of turning down the opportunity), that is a different argument.

You seem to try to present both arguments at once. I do not think it is convincing that Disney will decline a billion dollar film because they have other billion dollar films in the pipeline.

You know, RDJ is going to want that massive paycheck again. And as all the other IPs get stronger, so does RDJ's bargaining power. Phase One was all Ironman, they needed him more than anyone else. Phase 2 definitely saw a shift with Capt and Guardians doing bank. He still has the stronger pull of anyone involved, but it's not as strong as before and this is a very clear decision for Disney. Why risk the damage to the entire franchise being him on board? For someone who is going to want 15% of the profits for the next film?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom